Important links:
Many members of the Mac community are concerned about the direction of Mac OS X with respect to file handling. The umbrella term for all information about files is "metadata"--that is, "data about data." Metadata in Mac OS X includes file name extensions such as ".txt", as well as "type" and "creator" codes, carried over from Mac OS 9, which are not stored in the file name.
The community's concern is based on the apparent move away from file metadata that is not stored in the file name, and towards the exclusive use of file name extensions for file typing in Mac OS X.
Based on the recommendations of Apple employees and concerned Mac developers and users, a detailed proposal for the future of Mac OS X metadata has been created. The proposal recommends support for all possible types of file metadata, including file name extensions, type/creator codes, and any other form of file metadata developed in the future.
Please note that the proposal fully supports the move away from classic Mac OS "resource forks", and the eventual replacement of the HFS/HFS+ disk format with something more advanced.
The proposal itself is mirrored at several different locations:
http://siracusa.home.mindspring.com/john/articles/proposal.html
http://homepage.mac.com/jcs/.Public/proposal.html
An online petition has been created to demonstrate community support for the proposal. It currently (9/26/02) has over 9,400 signatures.
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/osxmd/petition.html
Sample comments selected from the thousands of petition signatures are available at:
http://siracusa.home.mindspring.com/john/articles/signatures.html
http://homepage.mac.com/jcs/.Public/signatures.html